President Donald Trump strongly suggested Thursday night that the United States may soon be launching ground operations in Venezuela as his administration continues its military escalations with the South American nation.
President Donald Trump first ordered strikes on suspected drug-carrying sea vessels in the Caribbean in September, strikes that have gone on to kill at least 83 people as of Nov. 25. The Trump administration has gone on to continue escalations, deploying a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group off of Venezuela’s coast, and has considered outright assassinating Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
And on Thursday, Trump gave his strongest hint yet that his administration may escalate the conflict further, and by land.
“Venezuelan drug traffickers [are] about 85% stopped by sea… and we’ll be starting to stop them by land,” Trump said Thursday in an address to U.S. troops around the world,” NBC reported. “Also, the land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.”
Trump has suggested previously that he had considered authorizing land strikes on Venezuela, with his comments Thursday the most explicit yet. Some Republican lawmakers have championed the idea of launching a full-scale invasion of Venezuela, including Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), who said doing so would allow U.S. oil companies to have a “field day.”
However, the majority of Americans are against a U.S. invasion of Venezuela. A recent poll from YouGov and CBS News showed that 70% of Americans were against U.S. military action in the country, to just 30% in favor.